Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li - Brian Pratt [15]
“James!” cries Jiron as the dinghy begins to rapidly fill with water. “Do something!”
Thinking fast, he attempts to place a magical seal across the broken boards but it doesn’t stop the leak, just slows it.
“The warship!” Miko cries out.
Turning to look, James sees it’s listing slightly off center. On the deck, he can see the man in armor arguing with a sailor as the ship begins to turn and heads back the way it had come.
“They must be sinking!” Miko cries out jubilantly.
“Looks like it,” agrees Jiron.
James continues to look toward the men arguing on the deck. Suddenly a decision must’ve been reached, the sailor turns away and the man in armor again stares at them as the warship begins to sail away.
Then, the prickling returns again as the man in armor raises his hands once more. With a loud crack, the dinghy completely breaks in two as if it was pulled apart.
“James!” Miko cries as he falls out of the dinghy, into the raging water.
Reaching out to him from where he still floats within half of the dinghy, James almost gets a hold of his hand before a wave crashes into them and knocks him backward out of the remains of the dinghy. The force of the wave pushes him beneath the water and by the time he again regains the surface, Miko has already been pushed away by the crashing waves.
He watches helplessly as Miko is dragged ever further away. He tries to swim toward him but waves continue smashing into him, thrusting him beneath the water. Each time he gains the surface, Miko is further away. Jiron had managed somehow to cling onto a piece of the dinghy, and is desperately trying to stay on it while at the same time move in his direction.
“Miko!” he cries out as another wave crashes into him, pushing him beneath the water. When he regains the surface, Miko is nowhere to be seen upon the churning waters. “Miko!” he screams as loud as he can. Desperately looking around, he begins to fear for his friend when he still is unable to find him.
Jiron is almost out of sight as well where he’s still clinging to what’s left of the dinghy.
Doing his best, he tries to remain above the surface as wave after wave crashes into him. Gasping for air as he fights to stay afloat, he’s repeatedly being pushed under the water by the incessant crashing of the waves.
In a moment’s respite, he looks around and realizes Jiron is no longer visible upon the waves. The warship has disappeared in the storm as well. Alone, frightened, he tries to summon the magic to help stay afloat, but the constant fight simply to remain above the surface makes it impossible for him to focus enough for the magic to work.
He looks up as another wave rolls into him, taking a deep breath, he braces for the impact.
The sound of the surf crashing on the beach wakes him up. Lifting his head, he realizes that he’s somehow been washed ashore. Soaked and miserable, he comes to his feet as the wind continues whipping the rain into him. His arms and legs are leaden and he barely has the strength to move, the effort to stay afloat had sapped all he had.
Moving slowly, he goes further up the beach away from the water and then turns to look out over the waves crashing upon the beach. “Miko! Jiron!” he hollers. Even if they replied, it’s unlike he’d be able to hear anything over the sound of wind and surf.
He looks around at just where he’d been deposited. Many waterways drain into the ocean, stunted trees and grass cover almost every exposed piece of land. Kind of reminds him of a swamp.
Not willing to give the others up for lost, he moves further away from the beach into the vegetation. After searching around for a few minutes, he finally locates what he’s been looking for.
Kneeling down next to the small pool of water, he concentrates on Miko, willing the image of his surroundings to appear upon the water. In his exhausted state, he’s almost unable to focus enough to call forth the magic.
The image wavers and then suddenly comes into clarity. He sees